Toyota HiLux Rugged X 2021 Review

If you’re a car-maker with light commercial utes in your model portfolio, you’re going nowhere if you don’t have a flagship 4x4 tough truck in your line-up.

Today, most everybody is in the game. In fact, finding a ute range today that doesn’t include a muscled-up, macho variant is well-nigh impossible.

In most cases, it’s largely all show with no extra go.

Some important chassis work has often been carried out to improve off-road ability, and some great accessories developed to assist with the cause.

But there’s no escaping the fact that a lot of the dress-up work is more attention-seeking than beneficial, and we’re still waiting for a super 4x4 ute with a truly brawny drivetrain to emerge from the major brands.

We note that there’s a V6-powered, Walkinshaw-fettled Volkswagen Amarok W50X coming soon. And, importantly, a new-generation 2022 Ford Ranger Raptor is on its way – an Aussie-developed model that will also spawn an all-new VW Amarok flagship in 2023.

For now, the genre-defining Raptor and would-be rivals such as the just-launched Nissan Navara PRO-4X Warrior continue with a four-cylinder turbo-diesel putting out exactly the same power and torque as their less-attention-seeking siblings.

Which brings us to the 2021 Toyota HiLux Rugged X, which is clearly aimed at the Ford Ranger Raptor but doesn’t go quite so far under the skin. It’s expensive, but a bit less so than the Ford.

Updated at the end of 2020 with new, Australian-influenced looks and further tweaks to its SR5 HiLux-based double-wishbone/leaf-spring suspension, the Rugged X is hardly likely to go anywhere unnoticed.

Depending on who your dealer is, you should be able to step into a 2021 Toyota HiLux Rugged X for something approaching 10 grand less than you would pay for a Ford Ranger Raptor X.

Tagged at $70,750 plus on-road costs, the Rugged X is equipped to the hilt whereas the Raptor X (from $79,390) still has a bit to go in terms of equipment.

Dip into the options bin and prices – for both Toyota and Ford – climb relentlessly upward.

The things that make the Toyota HiLux Rugged X unique include a reversible snorkel, heavy-duty rock sliders along the sides, a new front-end comprising a beefy front bumper with an LED light bar, a moulded tub tray and a heavy-duty bumper incorporating an entry step.

With their bolder, stylised upper wings, the wheel-arch extensions belong to the Rugged X only.

A nice touch is that the standard kit also includes a fully kitted-out tow bar with tow ball, tongue and a seven-pin plug.

Inside the Rugged X dual-cab there’s not much left out. A bigger 8.0-inch sat-nav screen resides at the centre top of the dash, there’s a self-dipping electro-chromatic rear-view mirror and a solid nine-speaker JBL sound system to help while away the hours behind the wheel.

Both front seats are heated, but power seat adjustment is limited to just the driver and, although plug-in tech is a bit compromised with only one USB point, there are two 220-volt AC sockets.

Interior presentation appears quite sumptuous, well removed from previous-generation dual-cab utes, but it’s a bit of a disappointment that at this price the bulk of the surfaces are hard-touch.

Compensation can be found in the rear-centre air vents and the fold-down arm rest in the back seat.

Up front, there are six cup holders, including those built into the door bins, and four in the back.

The warranty is pretty much your standard five-year/unlimited-kilometre deal and there’s Toyota Service Advantage to look after the first six scheduled workshop visits – which come at abbreviated six-month intervals – at prices contained to $250 per service.

Roadside assistance is available, but at extra cost.

Vying for a place alongside the hyper-successful Ford Ranger, the Toyota HiLux is the quintessential workhorse ute.

Along with a revised version of the 2.8-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel now producing 150kW/500Nm, the latest update that came late in 2020 saw a recalibration of the standard six-speed auto transmission, new suspension settings and a new pump for the hydraulic power steering which lightens low-speed steering wheel load.

There was also an increase in towing capacity, up from 3.2 tonnes to 3.5t.

With the changes, the Toyota HiLux Rugged X drives well, but at the end of the day it’s still a commercial vehicle with the usual compromises in ride quality and overall handling suppleness.

And the four-cylinder diesel, though it’s responsive and capable, is omnipresent at both start-up and around-town speeds and only settles into the background when cruising on the open road. At this gait, the cabin becomes quite peaceful.

During our review, we averaged 10.0L/100km in our Rugged X, which didn’t match the official combined figure of 8.4L/100km but was considered pretty good for an off-road-capable 2.3-tonne workhorse.

As with most other 4x4 utes, the steering no longer demands a fistful of turns going from lock to lock (3.3 for the Rugged X) and is a big improvement over the past. That said, while it’s lighter at low speeds, there’s still a noticeable heft to it.

The 12.6-metre turning circle is class-average and requires some pre-thinking when negotiating narrow spaces.

The brake-activated lane keep assist, also seen on other light-commercial Toyota models, is disconcertingly aggressive at times and something of a compromise when compared with electrically-assisted steering systems.

ANCAP safety ratings haven’t been on the radar for 4x4 utes all that long but, like most of its peer group, the Toyota HiLux Rugged X manages well with five ANCAP stars (awarded in 2019), seven airbags and a reasonable safety technology rollout.

Autonomous emergency braking (AEB), pedestrian and (daytime-only) cyclist detection, informed by both radar and camera, lane departure warning and lane keep assist are standard.

However, the HiLux is left short-changed by the likes of the Isuzu D-MAX X-Terrain which adds high- and low-speed AEB, blind spot monitoring, cross traffic alert at both front and rear ends and front and rear parking sensors.

The demeanour of the 2021 Toyota HiLux Rugged X, and its title, says it all. This is a multi-purpose 4x4 ute that’s intended to be happy doing family duties, functioning appropriately in the workplace or exposing its stylishly-crafted bodywork to the perils of the bush.

It will go lots of places, but how might those places impact on the anxieties of a fastidious owner who has forked out more than 70 grand on his new 4x4 ute?

Where off-road qualities are concerned, the Rugged X is a match, sort of, for its competitors. If there’s any differentiation it’s that the Rugged X tends to be a bit behind in 4x4 stuff such as approach/departure angles and ground clearance.

As far as its load-lugging capabilities are concerned, it’s in a similar position. The 734kg payload is slightly below the 748kg Raptor, which is below the 952kg Nissan Navara PRO-4X Warrior which is in turn a bit below the 970kg Isuzu D-MAX X-Terrain.

It does make up ground in terms of tray width and length, where it’s better than all the above, although it does lack a little in the width between the wheel-arches. And there’s no counter-balancing of the tailgate, or anything as fancy as a light to help load/unload in the dark.

As an alternative to the more refined Ford Ranger Raptor it has the advantage of lower pricing but that reflects the more ego-related focus of its development, not its underpinnings.

Its looks verge on spectacular but, in terms of its actual abilities, the Rugged X only inherits what’s already accepted as a given in lesser HiLux models.

The 2021 Toyota HiLux Rugged X does a pretty good job of hitting the macho 4x4 ute mark.

Especially in its latest updated guise, the strong visuals, comfy cabin and the list of standard equipment rate it well among its competitors and, in these days of high-priced but essentially basic 4x4 ‘sports’ utes, its pricing is in line with the expectations of a cashed-up market segment.

The Rugged X drives with a degree of alacrity once totally unexpected in the basic work ute genre and it’s pretty well covered in terms of creature comforts.

What’s not delivered – as is the case across its peer group – is the engine performance implied by the aggressive looks.

The question now is whether Ford will reset the bar with the next-generation Ranger Raptor.

And if that happens, the current crop of sports utes will surely begin to look pretty lame.

How much does the 2021 Toyota HiLux Rugged X cost?
Price: $70,750 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 2.8-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel
Output: 150kW/500Nm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Fuel: 8.4L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 220g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2019)